


The Ins and Outs of Identity

by invisible_aliens



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, M/M, Secret Identity, i think im still not exactly sure what that means, or there will be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 17:18:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisible_aliens/pseuds/invisible_aliens
Summary: Steve spends his days as an artist and his nights as Captain America. Tony Stark wants to buy some of Steve's art. Iron Man is one of the villains Captain America often faces (or is he?). Steve also makes a new friend on the internet. None of these people have anything to do with each other.Or do they?





	The Ins and Outs of Identity

**Author's Note:**

> I have to admit I haven't written much more yet, but I plan to. Here is the first chapter: Steve meets Tony, makes a friend on the internet and has a run in with Iron Man. Pepper is getting fed up with Tony. Steve's housemates are supportive. There is a lot of soup.
> 
> (This is some kind of AU, I have to admit my knowledge of canon isn't actually that good. But hey, if it's an AU I can do what I want, right?)

Steve flicked through his wardrobe, trying to find something that would give the right impression. Would a t-shirt be too casual? Probably. Would a suit be too formal? Quite likely not, but he didn't own one. He settled on a light blue shirt, and then spent ten minutes agonising over which jacket to wear. (Even though it was a warm day and he'd probably take it off.) 

(And Steve didn't really need one anyway.) 

He sighed, picked one up at random, and headed down to the kitchen. 

He knew he shouldn't feel so nervous, but telling himself that didn't banish the frenzied churning of his stomach. It wasn't a job interview; he'd already got the job. Now he just had to live up to the expectations of Tony Stark, who wanted some of his artwork. 

Tony Stark, Howard's billionaire son, wanted his art. It was weird, that Steve was going to meet him, and it had nothing to do with Captain America. 

That's why he was so nervous. This was a real step in his life outside being Captain America, and he was expecting it to go wrong. There would be an emergency, and he'd miss the meeting. It would turn out Tony knew he was the Captain, and that was the only reason he'd asked to meet him. 

Neither of Steve's housemates were in the kitchen, but this wasn't unusual, even if it was the socially expected time to have breakfast. It was one of Claire's university days, but her first class wasn't until later and she was no doubt asleep, and Thea could be anywhere. 

He was contemplating whether drinking coffee would help his nerves or not, and had just settled on tea, when he heard the key in the front door. Thea came down the hallway and into the kitchen, her bag slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face. 

"Good morning," she said, dumping her bag on the floor and going over to the fridge. She looked well rested, so Steve figured she'd been over at her girlfriend's and not out working a shift. 

"Ah, yeah." He poured himself some tea, and hovered by the dining table. 

Thea had a good look at him. "What's up with you?" she asked, serving herself some of the lentil soup Claire had made a few days ago. "Want some?" 

"No thanks." Steve found soup for breakfast odd on the best of days, and he certainly didn't want any this morning. "I'm going to see Tony Stark today. You know, about how he wants some of my art."

"Oh yeah! How exciting!" she twirled her long skirt, and sat down at the table with her now warm soup. 

"Do I look alright? I have no idea what to wear!" 

Thea shrugged. "Don't worry so much, just be yourself." 

Steve glanced at the clock. Time to go. He finished his tea, grabbed his back, and set off to finally meet Tony Stark. 

\---

Stark Tower was even more intimidating on the inside than the outside. Everywhere he looked there were cameras, threatening notices, and people rushing about, busy looking important. And this was only the foyer! 

He made his way over the reception desk, where a young woman was on her computer. 

"Ah… Excuse me, ma'am, I believe I have an appointment? With… With Mr Stark?" 

She raised her eyebrow. "Really? What's your name?" 

"Steve. Steve Grant."

She clicked a few times, frowned, and then pulled a security pass out from under her desk. "Here you go. Scan this in the elevator and it will take you to the floor of your meeting."

\--

"So… Ah… Apparently you wanted to commission some of my art?" Steve fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He felt entirely out of place in Stark's clean and empty office. Stark had made himself at home, lounging on the other side of the desk. 

"Yeah, to spruce this place up a bit." He waved his arms around vaguely. 

"So… What were you thinking of?" 

Stark shrugged. "Whatever. Pepper insisted I find some art, and I liked your style."

Great. He didn't just not know what he wanted, he didn't even want it in the first place! 

"It would be helpful if I had somewhere to start."

"I really don't mind! Just let me know when they're done, and I'll send someone around to collect them." Stark stood up.

"Is that it? But Mr Stark-" 

"Please, call me Tony. And what else do you need from me? They'll be great, I'm not fussed about the time it takes you, and you'll be paid well, I'll have someone send you the exact amount later, let them know it's not unacceptable, I'm happy to push it up."

And with that, he left the room.

_ I came here just so he could give me nothing?  _

\--

"So I talked to the Steve guy, he's going to do some art for the tower," Tony said to Pepper. 

She beamed like a proud parent. "Great? What did you decide on?" 

"Nothing in particular."

Pepper sighed, rolling her eyes. "Did you discuss some options, then? Or did he come over to the tower for nothing?" 

"Er… Well… It was good to meet him. I'm sure it'll be fine, whatever he decides! I've got other things to do." 

"There are things other things worth spending time on apart from Iron Man, you know."

"And he's really hot! I figured you'd be happier with me ignoring him than sleeping with the guy."

Pepper groaned lay her head down on the desk. "I give up."

"And you're right, there are other things apart from Iron Man. But it does take up a lot of time, especially now the authorities are after me…" 

"We've got to sort that out! Seriously, does everyone believe whatever they see on TV?" 

"I think Captain America has faith that I'm really a good guy."

"You really think he watches much TV?" 

-

Steve went to a nearby cafe for lunch. His nervousness had been replaced by hunger. He bought a sandwich and sat at a table near the window. There were three older teenagers sitting at a nearby table looking at a laptop, and he could hear their conversation. 

"What do you think?" said one of them, a blonde girl with glasses, who seemed to be the owner of the laptop. 

"It's amazing! You should totally put it on captainamerica.com." This was the boy sitting mext to her. 

The mention of his hero name sparked his interest. He'd never gotten used to people talking about him when they didn't know he was actually there. He subtly peered over the blonde girl's shoulder to see what they were looking at. 

It was a drawing of him as Captain America; probably done digitally judging by the style. (Steve was still getting used to the idea you could do art on a computer. He hadn't been brave enough to try it yet.)

"It's amazing, of course you should!" said the girl sitting on her other side. 

She was right, it was good. It stunned Steve that someone had been prepared to put in the effort to do such a good drawing of  _ him _ . 

And what was this website they spoke of? 

\--

Steve couldn't help but take a peek at the website himself when he got home. Its existence didn't surprise him, exactly, but hadn't ever really thought about it. He always forgot just how much  _ stuff _ was on the internet. (Seriously, where did it all come from?) 

The website was split into different sections, and Steve found the level of detail overwhelming. Someone (presumably multiple someones, judging by the amount of work it would have been) had put together a complete list of every battle and skirmish he'd ever been involved in. Others spent their time chasing after him, trying to get exciting footage to share and boast about. 

Others seemed more interested in sitting in the forums speculating about his love life. There were a few main theories: he had a secret girlfriend he hid from the press (not true); he was engaged to Black Widow (definitely not true); he was secretly dating Iron Man (unfortunately, also not true); he was hooking up with Tony Stark on the regular (and what did Tony Stark have to do with Captain America, anyway?). 

Before he was fully aware he'd done it, he'd created an account on the website (shield45) and left a comment saying how preposterous this last suggestion was. 

**Shield** :  _ How would Tony Stark know Captain America? Have they ever even been seen together? _

He regretted posting it straight away, but before he worked out how to delete it, someone replied. 

**Sdf** :  _ Admittedly, no, but I'm sure they'd be clever enough between to hide it _

And so started a full-scale argument about how easily they'd be able to hide it, both being well known celebrities. 

**Actuallyironman** :  _ Captain America does have a civilian identity, of course. It would be much easier to hide if no one knew who he was _

There was a flurry of activity as people posted photos of all the men Tony Stark had been around recently, and how likely any of them were to be Captain America. 

The conversation soon changed tack. 

**Quickquack** :  _ you think Cap and Stark is unbelievable? Cap and Iron Man is even less likely _

**Shield45** :  _ At least they know each other, and have been seen to work together at times. _

**Quickquack** :  _ but hes an actual villain, it makes no sense _

**Shield45** :  _ Maybe he's not and it was just a setup. What bad things has he done since the Meadows Building explosion? And what proof do we have that that was him, anyway?  _

When he'd first appeared on the scene, Iron Man had been seen as a good guy, helping people out a bit. But then he'd been on the scene of building explosion which had killed 48 people. He arrived long before the explosion, and there was a witness who claimed he'd seen Iron Man laying explosive charges in the basement. 

Steve was not convinced. Even though SHIELD had told him to bring Iron Man in, he hadn't tried very hard and instead the two of them had worked together quite successfully on a number of occasions. And sure, Steve didn't know who he was or what he looked like, but he was smart and funny, and there was something weirdly attractive about the suit. 

The internet was less kind. 

**Sdf** :  _ The cap's gotta be smarter than that _

Angry comments flowed in. 

Why had he thought this was a good idea? 

He was about to close the tab and pretend he never looked at the website, when there was a small 'ping' and a little box popped up in the bottom corner. 

**_Actuallyironman_ ** _ has sent a friend request.  _

Intrigued, Steve clicked the 'accept' option. 

**Actuallyironman** :  _ is this your first time? Just wanted to tell you not to worry, there are a lot of unreasonably agressive people here _

**Shield45** :  _ Thanks! Yes, it's my first time. I don't normally use the internet at all much.  _

**Actuallyironman** :  _ how unusual of you. What made you come here, of all places? Big Captain America fan?  _

**Shield45** :  _ Not at all! _

**Shield45** :  _ Not that there's anything wrong with him. I appreciate the work he does. I guess I came because of curiosity. I overhead some people talking about it and had to see for myself.  _

This was getting weird.

**Actuallyironman** :  _ can't believe people speculate so much about the Cap's love life?  _

**Shield45** :  _ Well, it is a bit weird. What if he sees it? _

**Actuallyironman** :  _ he's from the 40s. He probably uses the internet less than you do _

**Shield45** :  _ Sorry I guess you're one of these love life speculating people as well. _

**Actuallyironman** :  _ not really, I was just curious as well. I'm a big internet user, and I like to know what's around.  _

  
  


Steve could hear someone coming inside, probably Claire. Thea's steel cap boots made a much louder sound. 

**Shield45** :  _ My housemate's just got home, I better go. Talk to you again some other time? _

Steve didn't know what normally happened when you chatted to people on the internet. Was that a weird thing to say? 

**Actuallyironman** :  _ sounds good! _

"How did it go with Tony this morning?" Claire asked with a grin. 

"Terrible! He said barely anything to me, and then he just left."

Claire sighed. "Oh well, seems like what they say about him might be true."

Steve frowned. "What do they say about him?" 

Claire looked puzzled. "You know…" She waved her arms around vaguely.

"No? Anyway, it doesn't matter. What does matter is I need to work out what art to do, and Tony gave me nothing!" 

Claire dished herself out some soup, looking thoughtful. "What if you come do some art out at the nature reserve? There's some nice views and stuff, and we could use it as publicity, that Tony Stark's got some of our art!" 

On the days she wasn't busy studying botany, Claire worked out the visitor's centre of a local nature reserve.

"That's a great idea!" 

Claire grinned. "Anyway, I'm going to go recap today's lecture, I'll see you later, yeah?" 

"Yeah, I'm heading out soon."

"Have fun," Claire called down the stairs as she headed up to her room.

It was time to go out as Captain America. 

\---

"Okay, you win," Tony said to Pepper. "I'll apologise to Steve and have a real discussion with him."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I still don't trust you. But here's his number." She passed him a page of paperwork. 

"He doesn't have a mobile?" 

Pepper shrugged. "He only gave us a landline. Now ring it." 

She got up and left the office, narrowing her eyes at him as she left. 

Tony dialled the number. 

"Hello?" answered someone was most definitely not Steve. 

"Uh, hi. I was wondering if Steve was there?" 

"Sorry, he's not here at the moment, I'm Claire. Would you like me to pass on a message?" 

This is why Tony hated landlines. "I'd like to speak to him in person. I need to apologise, I was rather rude to him this morning."

"Oh. Is this Tony Stark?" Oh dear. She sounded rather displeased about that. 

"Yes. Look, I just really need to speak to him."

She sighed. "Look, he's out at the moment, but I know where he'll be tomorrow. I'll give you the address."

\--

As much as Steve loved having housemates, it did make sneaking out as Captain America difficult. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should tell them. But he liked being normal. 

Unfortunately, his window faced a busy street. So, like always, he shoved his costume and shield into a comically large backpack, and changed in a virtually abandoned toilet block by a deserted oval nearby, and headed out onto the streets. 

It was going along all nice and quiet, until he investigated some screaming from a multi-storey and the next thing he knew, he was with Iron Man on the twentieth floor. 

"We need to get out of here," said Iron Man. 

"The building's about to blow." 

"We'll have to go the window." The elevator wouldn't be safe, and the stairs were on the other side of the building. 

"We're on the twentieth floor!" 

"So? You can fly, and I've easily survived further." Steve ran towards one of the meeting rooms he knew would have a window. 

"You don't have to though! I can carry you."

Fury would be unimpressed if he heard about this, but it would be easier. And secretly, Steve had always liked the idea of flying with Iron Man."

"Okay," Steve said, and after he'd smashed the window with his shield, he put his arms around Iron Man's neck, Steve's body pressed against his side and Iron Man's arm almost around him. 

"Ready?" asked Iron Man. 

"Yes." 

And they were off, soaring into the night sky. Barely moments after they'd left, the building behind them blew, with a roar of heat and debris. 

Iron Man brought them down on the roof of another building. 

"That was close," said Steve, twisting his head around to survey the wreckage. He could already hear sirens in the distance. He turned to Iron Man. "Thank you." 

"No problem. They only blew it up because of me, anyway."

"What do you mean? It wasn't your fault. I know it wasn't." His arms were still around Iron Man's neck, whose hands were resting on his hips.

"Someone's framing me. It's not an accident I keep getting implicated in building explosions."

Not for the first time, Steve wished he could see the face behind the faceplate. "I believe you. And if someone's framing you, then it really isn't your fault."

"Thank you. For believing in me, even though you don't even know who I am."

"I could know." Even the mere idea of seeing the man behind Iron Man sends a thrill through Steve. "I'd love to see you. To get to know you. To…" 

_ To kiss you _ , he thinks, but he doesn't say it. 

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"Can't tell me, or can't even get to know me? You don't have to tell me, I just want, I don't know…" Steve trails off. He knows exactly what he wants, but he can't say it. He can't make it weird, this shaky truce they have formed. 

"And what can I truly give you when you don't even know who I am?" Iron Man says quietly. 

_ He knows _ , thinks Steve.  _ He knows I've got a ridiculous crush on him.  _ He minds this less than he thought he might. 

And if Iron Man knows anyway, what does he have to lose? 

"You could give me a kiss." 

"Close your eyes."

\--

Sneaking in after spending the night having amazing sex with with someone your family found questionable was something Steve thought teenagers should be doing (not that he ever had), not fully grown adults. 

And yet, here he was, getting home after one. And maybe the reason was different, but at least he'd had practise at the 'lying about what you've been doing to get you home this late' part. Hopefully, Claire and Thea would be asleep and he wouldn't have to lie to anyway. 

He was not so lucky. Claire was in the kitchen, chopping up carrots. 

"Hey! Good session, then?" 

Somehow, his housemates were under the impression that his unexplained hours of absence were because he was part of an overly involving Dungeons and Dragons group, and he'd never bothered to correct them. 

"Er, yeah, we totally lost track of the time!" (This was entirely true.)

She nodded knowingly. "Did you manage to eat in all the excitement? This soup won't be ready for a while, sorry."

Claire spent many of her evenings singing in a band, either practising together or performing. Whenever she got home late buzzed up from a gig, she often stayed up late cooking soup. 

"Thanks, but I'm all good." Usually, he came up with some lies about what had happened during their latest session on his way home, but tonight his mind had been preoccupied with other things. "I think I might head off to bed."

"Goodnight, then!" 

Steve hurried to his room before he could give anything away.


End file.
